Stenberg, Johan

Abstract [en]

It is notable how inserting in newspapers has increased in the Nordic countries in the last 10 years. The days without inserting are becoming less frequent, and multiple inserts are used several days a week. The newspaper product structure is becoming more complex and this makes high demands on the printing plant and especially on the mailroom operations. Many companies today have older mailroom equipment and are planning new investments. Earlier studies, based on data collected from printing press systems, show that mailroom stops belong to one of the four main reasons for press downtime. But this data only gives information about the stops in the mailroom that cause the press to stop. Manual reports from the mailroom mostly give the same data as the press control system. Another study shows that in the inserting operation, it is the winding and unwinding of inserts that cause the most problems. Interviews with production staff have indicated that inserting and stacker operations are considered being the main problem areas. This paper focuses on the different causes of mailroom stops, downtime, and reduced production speed in the mailroom and on how inserts affect the production. Two different studies were carried out at two newspaper printing plants in Sweden. One of the studies examines the minor mailroom stops that never get registered in any system, the other focuses on the reported stops and on interviews about mailroom disturbances. Interviews with technical managers and mailroom managers at several other printing plants were also conducted. The studies indicate that inserting and stacker stops might cause longer down time in the mailroom that force the press to be stopped. Stops in the packaging lines can be handled in parallel to the production through increased personnel efforts by the production staff in the mailroom.